A STRONG FOUNDATION

For kindergardeners and first graders, the priority in Art Education at VLM is to create a strong foundation for creativity, care, and good design.

Kinders are exploring the design theme of VARIETY  learning, for example, how artists use VARIOUS kinds of lines---curved, zigzagged, straight, thin---as one way to make artwork look good. (Just as a strong writing has a large vocabulary to choice from.)

In their second project,  kinders used lines to draw self portraits, like these.

Meanwhile, in first grade art, students are thinking about BALANCE, how lines (and shapes, and colors) on one part of a painting might mirror lines on the other in a way that is pleasing.

In their Big Bug Discovery Project, students worked to create symmetry in collages that described an imaged insect.  Students enjoyed considering the world through a bug's eye view while watching  clips from the film 'Microcosmos.'

In the subsequent project,  'Spiderwebs and Spider-lilies' these same first graders are in the process of creating super-symmetry or 'radial symmetry'---an image or design that mirrors itself in 4 or more directions, like the face of a flower or a compass rose.

What do you think is most important to start with in becoming an artist?

STEP-LADDER LEARNING

Step-ladder learning in art, like elsewhere, is a purposeful building upon earlier skills and concepts to increase understanding.

From 2nd to 3rd grade,  VLM art students move from the relatively familiar idea of using PATTERN, (like in the circle-filled birthday portrait above), to the more complex concept of creating UNITY.

Below, in the project HIDE & SEEK, 3rd grader were challenged to connect lines and repeat similar shapes to create UNITY between a scrap of a magazine image and their own pastel drawings. The goal was to  hide the magazine image so expertly that a viewer might not all at once notice it is there.

Can you think of an example of UNITY in your home? Somewhere your family has matched similar colors---think light blue and dark blue---or  the same kind of objects to create a cohesive-looking (or functioning) space?

*More HIDE & SEEK work by Mrs. Purviance's 3rd graders is currently on display in our cafeteria foyer!